1187 Afra

1187 Afra is a dark background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt. It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory on 6 December 1929. The X-type asteroid has a rotation period of 14.1 hours and measures approximately in diameter. The origin of the asteroid's name remains unknown.

Orbit and classification

Afra is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements. It orbits the Sun in the central asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 3 months. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.22 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins at Heidelberg in January 1930, seven weeks after its official discovery observation.

Naming

It is not known to what person, group of persons, or occurrence the name "Afra" refers to.

Unknown meaning

Among the many thousands of named minor planets, Afra is one of 120 asteroids, for which no official naming citation has been published. All of these low-numbered asteroids have numbers between and and were discovered between 1876 and the 1930s, predominantly by astronomers Auguste Charlois, Johann Palisa, Max Wolf and Karl Reinmuth.

Physical characteristics

The lightcurve of Afra shows a periodicity of hours, during which time the brightness of the object varies by in magnitude.